1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of fluid delivery systems, and particularly through conventional fuel pumps for delivering fuel to individual vehicles.
2. Prior Art
In the use of gasoline pumps in automobile filling stations, some increment of dispensed fuel frequently drips out of or is poured from the opening of the pump nozzle when the pumping action is completed. The principle cause for this occurrence is that fuel not contained beyond the automatic valve closure remains in the nozzle. Another factor which contributes to an increment of fuel being trapped within the nozzle occurs when the fuel in the receptacle overflows and backs up into the nozzle. Thus, when the nozzle is extracted from the receptacle the trapped fuel inside the nozzle drips out of or is spilled from the nozzle. While the amount of fuel lost in any single delivery is normally relatively small, on occasion a substantial amount of fuel may be lost if the nozzle is substantially full when withdrawn from the receptacle, and even small losses accumulate because of the great amounts of fuel handled, so that the total amount wasted in the United States over a period of one year is very large.
At the present time, conventional delivery nozzles have a shut off valve in the hand unit separated from the ultimate nozzle delivery point by a tubular member of substantial length and diameter, whereby substantial amounts of fuel may be confined within the tubular member between the end thereof and the shut off valve. There is now no anti dribble device in common usage for such pumps, whether such pumps are delivering gasoline or other fuels to any type of vehicles, such as cars, trucks, boats and airplanes, to name a few.